Former MLB Slugger Mo Vaughn Finally Admits To Using HGH During Career

Almost 20 years after he was named in the infamous Mitchell Report, former MLB slugger Mo Vaughn has admitted to using human growth hormone (HGH) during his playing career.

Vaughn, who played 12 MLB seasons from 1991 to 2003, was a three-time All-Star first baseman and the 1995 American League MVP. But nagging knee injuries prompted him to seek out any means necessary to extend his career.

"I was trying to do everything I could," he admitted to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal. "I knew I had a bad, degenerative knee. I was shooting HGH in my knee. Whatever I could do to help the process."

Boston Red Sox first baseman Mo Vaughn in action at the plate at Fenway Park during the 1995 season.

(RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports)

The now 57-year-old made his big league debut for the Red Sox in 1991, and his eight years with the club earned him a spot in the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. Vaughn then signed with the Los Angeles Angels in 1999, becoming the highest-paid player in baseball with a six-year, $80 million contract. He suffered ankle and knee injuries on Opening Day, though, when he fell into the dugout tracking a fly ball.

The former Silver Slugger award winner struggled with his left knee in the years following that incident, even missing the entire 2001 season. That's when HGH use began.

It's worth noting that Major League Baseball didn't ban HGH until 2005 — nearly two years after Vaughn's last game.

Mo Vaughn played 12 MLB seasons.

(Photo by Sporting News via Getty Images via Getty Images)

Vaughn's confession confirms the findings of the 2007 Mitchell Report, an independent investigation into illegal performance-enhancing drug use in MLB by former U.S. Senator George J. Mitchell of Maine. Vaughn's name appeared in the report, along with evidence that he had purchased HGH three separate times in 2001.

Vaughn was one of nearly 90 players named in the report.